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Palestinian Boy's Portrait Wins 2025 World Press Photo of the Year

Samar Abu Elouf's image of Mahmoud Ajjour, gravely injured in Gaza, highlights the personal cost of war and the power of photojournalism.

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This image taken by Jae C. Hong. Of The Associated Press, was one of three winners in the Singles category of the Asia-Pacific and Oceania region of the the World Press Photo Award of the Year and shows Adoptee Nicole Motta, left, and her birth father, Jang Dae-chang, wipe tears after an emotional reunion at the Eastern Social Welfare Society in Seoul, Friday, May 31, 2024. The moment they hugged, Motta, adopted to the United States in 1985, didn't need DNA test results, she knew she'd come from this man. "I am a sinner for not finding you," he said. "I think I have your nose," Motta said softly. They both sobbed. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The jury praised the composition of the winning entry

Overview

  • The winning photograph, taken by Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times, features 9-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, who lost one arm and had the other mutilated in a March 2024 Israeli attack on Gaza.
  • Selected from over 59,000 entries across 141 countries, the image was praised for its ability to tell a layered and impactful story through a single, quiet moment.
  • Mahmoud, now living in Qatar after evacuation, is undergoing rehabilitation, learning to adapt to life without arms, and dreams of receiving prosthetics to live as an ordinary child.
  • World Press Photo Executive Director Joumana El Zein Khoury described the image as a reflection of the broader generational impact of war, particularly on children in Gaza.
  • The contest's finalists also spotlighted global challenges, with images addressing migration at the U.S.-Mexico border and the effects of climate change in the Amazon.